Next stop was Niagara Falls. this place is cool. it's a pretty awesome sight, the first time the falls come into view. we were staying at the Sheraton Fallsview hotel which as you can probably guess overlooked the falls. we got out of the lift on the eighth floor to see the falls properly for the first time. we dumped our gear in the room and headed straight down to the falls. we had a bit of trouble actually getting down there. we could see the falls but couldn't find a path down there. needless to say i was getting pretty hacked off, ready to hop over the barrier and run/fall down through the bushes blocking our path untill Kathryn swallowed my pride and asked a gardener for directions. Once down there we had a look around then got some passes that let us on a white water rapids walk, a walk under the falls and a trip on the "world famous" maid of the mist. first up was the white water walk, it's a little further down river from the falls. you go down a lift about 200 feet then come out to wooden walkways that run alongside the class 6 (apparently the most dangerous kind) rapids. it was a cool walk and i was trying to ease kathryn into the maid of the mist as she was less than happy with the idea of cruising so close to the falls.
next up was the "journey under the falls" (everything in quote marks should be said with a quivering, awe inducing voice). you go down another lift then they give you a nice yellow poncho. you then walk through some tunnels to a viewing platform right next to the base of the falls. it was wet. enough said. like rain, but coming from all directions. you then walk through some more tunnels that go under the falls and can see out of some holes at the back of the falls. as you can probably guess, it looks like a ton of white water falling over the edge of a cliff. brilliant.
last of all, the maid of the mist. you get the idea by now.... another lift, a blue poncho this time then a boat that looks like it may have been the very same one to make the first trip back in 1846. i was beggining to see why Kathryn was worried. we got on, took hold of the railings and got underway. we got some excellent views of the american falls and the canadian horse shoe falls. i tried to take some pictures from right in the mist but my camera eventually died and refused to take anymore pictures. plus you couldn't really see anything by the time you got there, it was like going through a car wash with the windows down. nice.
that night we went for dinner at a place called Tony Roma's. i had a bleu cheese burger (that's not a spelling mistake), it tasted like pure gasoline.... never eat blue cheese. we then went down to the falls again to watch some fireworks and take a look at the falls by moonlight. at least i thought it was the moon, kathryn pointed out to me a minute later that it was actually a big white hot air balloon. i think i got too much sun that day.we took loads of photos, here are a select few (few dozen).
we had a wicked time at the falls, it made a nice change to being in cities for the past week. the next day it was off to America again, heading to Pittsburgh.
